Tag Archives: fibre
These broads will felt you up for winter
Tea Weaves
The Desert Sage Spinners and Weavers celebrated their 35th anniversary in fine style on Thursday April 26 with a tea, exhibit, sale, demonstrations, and a special performance by the Oliver Handbell Ringers. The event was open to the public, and was well-attended. The date was also picked to coincide with BC Arts and Culture Week, and was one of a number of arty gatherings this week.
Visitors were treated to a sit-down tea with sandwiches and sweets. The audience was delighted with the handbell concert, which transformed the event into a multisensory experience!
Many stalls displayed clothing, linens, purses and other accessories, and whimsical items. A collection of spinning wheels stood at one end of the Oliver Community Centre hall where there was also a slide show of various fibre art projects. Weaving and felting were among the live demonstrations.
At left, Gail Erickson weaves using one of the smaller looms on display. A belt perhaps, Gail?
Felted blossoms and leaves were a sure sign of spring.
Cynthia Jones threads her shuttle, working on the largest loom on display.
Terry Irvine soaps up her wet-felted creation, a sheep tea cosy, while an amused Diane Lindsay looks on.
And a busy happy throng of weavers, tea-partiers, and curious onlookers!
Photo Credit: Penelope Johnson
"Casting Shadows" announced as 2012 Fall Art Show and Sale theme
Precise categories have not been announced, but will include the following: oils, watercolours, acrylics, fibre arts, photography, mixed / new media, and three-dimensional (including sculpture, found object art, leatherwork, metalwork, lapidary and more). Emerging artists (under 19) may enter in their own category.
“Casting Shadows” was the popular choice for the 2012 theme, based on ballots received from the public at this past year’s Fall Art Show & Sale. Whether you draw, paint, take photos, or create in fabric, wool, or in 3-dimensions with wood, clay, metal or other materials, the Fall Art Show and Sale is the perfect place to show and sell your work.
The 2012 Fall Art Show & Sale will take place on Saturday & Sunday, September 29th & 30th at the Oliver Community Centre (held jointly with the Festival of the Grape on the Sunday).
For further information, please call Sally at 250-498-0104 or email the arts council at olivercac @ gmail.com
Visit the Oliver Arts Council’s website in early 2012 for entry forms and more news concerning the 2012 Fall Art Show & Sale.
“Casting Shadows” announced as 2012 Fall Art Show and Sale theme
Precise categories have not been announced, but will include the following: oils, watercolours, acrylics, fibre arts, photography, mixed / new media, and three-dimensional (including sculpture, found object art, leatherwork, metalwork, lapidary and more). Emerging artists (under 19) may enter in their own category.
“Casting Shadows” was the popular choice for the 2012 theme, based on ballots received from the public at this past year’s Fall Art Show & Sale. Whether you draw, paint, take photos, or create in fabric, wool, or in 3-dimensions with wood, clay, metal or other materials, the Fall Art Show and Sale is the perfect place to show and sell your work.
The 2012 Fall Art Show & Sale will take place on Saturday & Sunday, September 29th & 30th at the Oliver Community Centre (held jointly with the Festival of the Grape on the Sunday).
For further information, please call Sally at 250-498-0104 or email the arts council at olivercac @ gmail.com
Visit the Oliver Arts Council’s website in early 2012 for entry forms and more news concerning the 2012 Fall Art Show & Sale.
Snuggle up with cuddly fibres this October
The Slow Fibre Fest, sponsored by Desert Sage Spinners & Weavers Guild, is planned for Saturday October 29 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Seniors Centre on South Main in Penticton. The event will feature and promote the use of natural fibres. Much like the “Slow Foods” movement that champions traditional, healthy, and eco friendly methods of growing and preparing our own foods, the “Slow Fibre” Festival promotes using fibres in traditional, “home-grown” and eco-friendly ways, from raising animals for wool to using eco-friendly dyes. There will be a vendor market, demonstrations of weaving, spinning and felting including display of the Guild’s felted yurt. A fashion show will take place in the afternoon. A fun day for all and admission is free. Refreshments and lunch will be available.
Photo Credit: Val Friesen
It's the FASS — at LASST!
View many interpretations of the “Outside the Box” theme in eight artistic categories: photography, fibre arts, 3 -D, oils, acrylics, watercolours, other media, and a category for young “emerging artists”.
View the artwork, vote for your favourites, purchase artwork, bid in the silent auction, and tour fascinating non-competitive displays such as the RipOff Artists American Gothic and demonstrations. Visit the arts council information booth. In the evening, nibble at the reception, listen to live entertainment, and be present for the announcement of category winners and “Best Interpretation of the Theme”.
The Sunday entrance is free with your paid entrance to the Festival of the Grape. The exhibits and sale continue, as does the silent auction. Meet the artists. View the category winners and the overall “Best in Show”.
Watch for cute little wine glass tags commemorating poster art from the last four art shows. They make great souvenirs as well as being handy to wear on your Festival of the Grape glass on Sunday.
Bring your chequebook because, in addition to the great art, arts council memberships, souvenirs and gift items on sale, you will definitely want to enter the silent auction!
The silent auction has 50 amazing items for bid! The auction continues the “Outside the Box” theme. Bid on dozens of tempting hand-painted boxes laden with various themed goods. Each box is filled with items such as “a night at the theatre”, “home preserves”, “vacation”, “outdoor living”, “games night”, “school days”, “kitchenware”, “gardening”, “coffee bar” , “tea for two” or “bath and beauty”, just to name a few. Each filled box makes an attractive gift or keep it for yourself and display it at home. Expect the bidding to be exciting right to the last minute!
It’s the FASS — at LASST!
View many interpretations of the “Outside the Box” theme in eight artistic categories: photography, fibre arts, 3 -D, oils, acrylics, watercolours, other media, and a category for young “emerging artists”.
View the artwork, vote for your favourites, purchase artwork, bid in the silent auction, and tour fascinating non-competitive displays such as the RipOff Artists American Gothic and demonstrations. Visit the arts council information booth. In the evening, nibble at the reception, listen to live entertainment, and be present for the announcement of category winners and “Best Interpretation of the Theme”.
The Sunday entrance is free with your paid entrance to the Festival of the Grape. The exhibits and sale continue, as does the silent auction. Meet the artists. View the category winners and the overall “Best in Show”.
Watch for cute little wine glass tags commemorating poster art from the last four art shows. They make great souvenirs as well as being handy to wear on your Festival of the Grape glass on Sunday.
Bring your chequebook because, in addition to the great art, arts council memberships, souvenirs and gift items on sale, you will definitely want to enter the silent auction!
The silent auction has 50 amazing items for bid! The auction continues the “Outside the Box” theme. Bid on dozens of tempting hand-painted boxes laden with various themed goods. Each box is filled with items such as “a night at the theatre”, “home preserves”, “vacation”, “outdoor living”, “games night”, “school days”, “kitchenware”, “gardening”, “coffee bar” , “tea for two” or “bath and beauty”, just to name a few. Each filled box makes an attractive gift or keep it for yourself and display it at home. Expect the bidding to be exciting right to the last minute!
Fall Art Show and Sale is FASS-t approaching
View many interpretations of the “Outside the Box” theme in eight artistic categories: photography, fibre arts, 3 -D, oils, acrylics, watercolours, other media, and a category for young “emerging artists”.
Saturday is a great day to see the show for free, from 3 – 9 p.m. View the artwork, vote for your favourites, purchase artwork, bid in the silent auction, and tour fascinating non-competitive displays such as the RipOff Artists American Gothic and demonstrations. Visit the arts council information booth. In the evening, nibble at the reception, listen to live entertainment, and be present for the announcement of category winners and “Best Interpretation of the Theme” (our version of Best in Show).
The Sunday entrance is free only with your paid entrance to the Festival of the Grape. The exhibits and sale continue, as does the silent auction. Meet the artists. View the category winners and the overall “Best in Show”. Did your favourites win?
Watch for cute little wine glass tags commemorating poster art from the last four art shows. They make great souvenirs as well as being handy to wear on your Festival of the Grape glass on Sunday.
Bring your chequebook because, in addition to the great art, arts council memberships, souvenirs and gift items on sale, you will definitely want to enter the silent auction!
The silent auction is looking absolutely fantastic this year! The auction continues the “Outside the Box” theme. Bid on dozens of tempting hand-painted boxes laden with various themed goods. Each box is filled with items such as “a night at the theatre”, “home preserves”, “vacation”, “outdoor living”, “games night”, “school days”, “kitchenware”, “gardening”, “coffee bar” , “tea for two” or “bath and beauty”, just to name a few. Each filled box makes an attractive gift or keep it for yourself and display it at home.
Between now and the festival, watch for our travelling “Outside the Box” display! The 6-foot tall stack of boxes looks like the poster graphic. Can you find it around town? Thank you to Beyond Bliss, Medici’s Gelateria, Interior Savings Credit Union, Valley First Credit Union, and the Oliver Regional Library for hosting the box stack so far! Please patronize these community-minded businesses and institutions!
Spot the "Outside the Box" box!
View many interpretations of the “Outside the Box” theme in eight artistic categories: photography, fibre arts, 3 -D, oils, acrylics, watercolours, other media, and a category for young “emerging artists”.
Saturday is a great day to see the show for free. View the juried art, vote for your favourites, purchase artwork, bid in the silent auction, nibble at the reception, listen to live entertainment, tour fascinating non-competitive displays and be present for the announcement of winners.
The Sunday entrance is free with your paid entrance to the Festival of the Grape. The exhibits and sale continue, as does the silent auction. View the category winners and the overall “Best in Show”.
The silent auction continues the “Outside the Box” theme. Bid on one of dozens of tempting painted boxes laden with various themed goods. Each box is filled with items for “a night at the theatre”, “vacation”, “outdoor living”, “games night”, “school days”, “kitchenware”, “gardening”, “coffee bar” , “tea for two” or “bath and beauty”, just to name a few. Each filled box makes an attractive gift or keep it for yourself and display it at home.
Between now and the festival, watch for our travelling “Outside the Box” display! The 6-foot tall stack of boxes looks like the poster graphic. Can you find it around town? Let us know where you spot it! Hint: The first location is at Beyond Bliss on Main Street this week. Please patronize these community-minded businesses!
Spot the “Outside the Box” box!
View many interpretations of the “Outside the Box” theme in eight artistic categories: photography, fibre arts, 3 -D, oils, acrylics, watercolours, other media, and a category for young “emerging artists”.
Saturday is a great day to see the show for free. View the juried art, vote for your favourites, purchase artwork, bid in the silent auction, nibble at the reception, listen to live entertainment, tour fascinating non-competitive displays and be present for the announcement of winners.
The Sunday entrance is free with your paid entrance to the Festival of the Grape. The exhibits and sale continue, as does the silent auction. View the category winners and the overall “Best in Show”.
The silent auction continues the “Outside the Box” theme. Bid on one of dozens of tempting painted boxes laden with various themed goods. Each box is filled with items for “a night at the theatre”, “vacation”, “outdoor living”, “games night”, “school days”, “kitchenware”, “gardening”, “coffee bar” , “tea for two” or “bath and beauty”, just to name a few. Each filled box makes an attractive gift or keep it for yourself and display it at home.
Between now and the festival, watch for our travelling “Outside the Box” display! The 6-foot tall stack of boxes looks like the poster graphic. Can you find it around town? Let us know where you spot it! Hint: The first location is at Beyond Bliss on Main Street this week. Please patronize these community-minded businesses!
RipOff Artists make it official
Nearly all its members have also been individual members of the council, with a few serving as executive officers of the OCAC over the years. All this had given the group a long and affectionate association with the council. Group status, however, confers added benefits to the collective. The group is now able to apply to the OCAC for financial aid (a “contracted service agreement”) for any public event such as a workshop, performance, class, or exhibit, which reflects the mandates of the arts council. The group also benefits from publicity (like this!).
Need to catch up on all four of the RipOff challenges over the years? Missed any of the following exhibits: Wheatfield with Cypresses by Vincent van Gogh (2007), Emilie Floge by Gustav Klimt (2008), Pink Tulip by Georgia O’Keeffe (2009), or Mount Lefroy by Lawren Harris (2010)? You can see them all at once at the
RipOff Retrospective May 12 – June 23, 2011 Leir House, Penticton, BC Opening reception: May 12, 7 – 9 p.m.The RipOffs have chosen their fifth annual challenge: American Gothic by Grant Wood. You know it: the dour looking farmer with a pitchfork and his spinster daughter in an apron (not a couple, as many assume). The title of the painting refers to the architecture of the farmhouse behind them: a gothic style window is visible in the second storey. The image is iconic, and much parodied, so it will indeed be a challenge for these nine creative people to really “stick it to Wood” as the RipOffs say on their website. watch them in action during the
Fifth RipOff Challenge! “American Gothic” by Grant Wood July 4 – July 9, 2011 Quail’s Nest Art Centre, Oliver, BC Opening reception: July 4, 6 – 8 PMTake a look at the wonderful retrospective of their art at their very own website: http://www.ripoffartists.ca/index.html
Fibre Madness Challenge winds up
Local fibre artist Terry Irvine has completed a creative challenge: designing and creating one new work per day during the month of February. What a great way to beat the February blues!
Here is the second set of photos from her project. Scroll down the page to find the article detailing the first installment.
“The seemingly dye resistant flowers accepted the colour when immersed in my acid dyes. Success!” says Terry.
Here is a whole bouquet of acid dye flower brooches :
The third shows the results of the second set.
Terry comments on the process: “The coasters didn’t felt that easily by hand so I gathered some other things that needed felting and put them all together in the washing machine. The next day the hot pad was ready for felting, but nothing else was. Interestingly enough, the machine felted coasters were thicker and fluffier than the hand felted hot pad, which was surprising and, if ya think about it, opposite how you’d want them for functionality.”
Irvine also tried her hand at felting a water bottle carrier. However, felting is a mysterious process that doesn’t always give you what you expect:
And here’s a bit of whimsy:
Want to comment? Email olivercac@gmail.com and we’ll publish it or forward it to Terry per your request. Are you an OCAC member with a project of your own? Let us know!
February Fibre Madness
“I set myself a couple of goals for the month of February. The first one was to produce a fibre product each day. The second was to document and photograph the products. The third was to upload the photos onto my computer and share them with friends who would like to see my progress and share in the madness. I figured by the end of the month, I’ll have a nice cache of smaller items for the farmers’ market and be more computer literate in terms of uploading and sharing photos.”
Irvine is the founder of The RipOff Artists, a local multi-media co-operative that chooses the work of a famous artist to “rip off” each year, each in their own artistic medium. Terry Irvine works with a variety of yarns, spinning, crocheting, knitting, and felting to create wonderful three-dimensional pieces of art. She was inspired by fellow Rip Off artist Thea Haubrich (of Twin Lakes Encaustic Art) who set herself the goal of doing an encaustic (wax) piece once a day for a month in the spring of 2010.
By the first week’s end, Terry found herself easily mastering the fibre portion of the February Fibre Madness project, but stymied by the computer:
“I’ve an interesting (and annoying) dilemma on my hands.I can get my photos from the camera to the computer, but the computer won’t accept them. A nice little photo preview shows on the computer screen followed by a statement that talks about the program not being initialized. Then the photos disappear. Sigh…..My plan is to call in the professional who is a Mac master in the Oliver area. With any luck he’ll be able to come over this upcoming week. In the meantime, I’m continuing with the knitting, crocheting, spinning, etc. Oh yeah, and the taking pictures.”
Problem quickly solved with phonecalls to some computer-savvy girlfriends, the photos soon arrived. See below for just a few samples from Terry’s daily photo diary:
Got the blues? Why not set yourself an artistic challenge!
Slow Fibre Festival Wins over Crowd …FAST
The Desert Sage Spinners and Weavers hosted the Slow Fibre Festival in Summerland on Saturday October 9, 2010. The festival observed a similar principle as “slow food”: focussing on natural fibres and local fibre producers and artisans. The event, including displays, demonstrations, and sales tables was a huge success. It was a perfect tie-in with the Thanksgiving weekend. Member Gail Erickson says the venue was bursting at the seams with vendors and customers, and they will be looking for a larger location next year. Take a look at some of the photos from the festival, featuring the busy Desert Sagers at work.
Wish you knew how to do this yourself? Join the Guild! Contact the Desert Sage Spinners and Weavers by visiting our “Contact” or “Groups” pages, or by emailing the OCAC at olivercac@gmail.com to be put in touch with the Guild.